Slip and Slide

by Patricia Logan

  “Wow, and here I was just beginning to think we were getting somewhere,” Thayne said.

  “You did?” Sales asked.

  “Yeah.” Jarrett went on to tell the agent about how Boggs used to be on the Saginaw Collective’s board of directors before orchestrating the sale of the Red Hills Mine to himself by setting up the Red Hills Mining Collective and making himself the CEO.

  “Damn, that’s downright devious,” Sales said, “Not to mention the fact that he was able to do all of it without Saginaw catching on until after he’d resigned.”

  “If someone at Saginaw got burned, it might be a motive for murdering Boggs,” Thayne offered up.

  “Yeah, but would they’d have the patience to wait until two and a half years after the sale and transfer of the mine?” Jarrett asked.

  “Your partner has a point, Wolfe,” Sales said.

  “We also ran into some of Red Hills’s miners at a dive bar last night,” Jarrett said.

  “Yeah, what’d they have to say?”

  “They told us that none of them were aware of the federal safety money the Saginaw Collective got after the 2011 cave-in. Apparently Haney and Boggs kept that to themselves but they did say Haney was beside himself with grief after the explosion.”

  “Well, he would be, wouldn’t he?” Sales said. “He said nothing to the miners about the money that was to be used to upgrade the mine’s safety after the 2011 collapse. I don’t care how badly he was being pressured by the company to keep costs down, that money was earmarked to be used specifically for that purpose after the cave-in. If the miners knew about the money and that Doug Haney wasn’t using it, they would have been all over that mess.”

  “Maybe he was hoping once the mine was sold, the new owner would do the right thing and address the safety issues within the mine since Saginaw did nothing. And you were there when he admitted they began to repair the rotted timbers they discovered before the industry crashed,” Thayne said.

  “That’s all true,” Sales agreed.

  “Speaking of crashes, someone tried to run us off the road on the way back from the bar last night,” Jarrett told Sales.

  “What?” the special agent’s voice rose with alarm and Jarrett went on to explain how an older model American-made car with tinted windows had nearly pushed them into oncoming traffic before ripping off their bumper. When Jarrett was finished, Sales let out low whistle into the phone.

  “Holy shit. Someone sure don’t like you boys pokin’ around in things.”

  “No they don’t,” Thayne had to agree. “You and Lafford might be next, Bud, so please be careful out there. We don’t know who’s decided we should be eliminated but at least we know we’re getting close. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t be perceived as a threat.”

  “Well, I know we’re pretty sick and tired of running into cases where we almost get ourselves killed and I’m wonderin’ now whether the same person who killed Boggs is the one who tried to run us off the road,” Jarrett grumbled.

  “Did you report it to the sheriff?” Sales asked.

  Jarrett glanced at Thayne and gave him a guilty look. All he’d been wanting to do last night was to sink so deeply into Thayne’s body that he’d never come out again. They hadn’t even talked about it after they’d fucked because they’d been so tired, they’d fallen right to sleep.

  “No. We figured we’d do that first thing this morning,” Thayne answered for them both.

  “You should. It sounds like it could be related,” Sales said. “Did y’all talk to your FBI contact?”

  “Snow? Yes, he’s supposed to get back to us today or tomorrow after he has the Bureau’s financial crimes division look into it,” Thayne said.

  “What happened with the citations?” Jarrett asked. “Did you go out to the Red Hills Mining Collective’s corporate offices?”

  Sales snorted and Jarrett and Thayne could hear his disgust right over the phone. “Yeah, I was gonna tell y’all when we saw you. Boggs told us they weren’t turning over any documents until we show them a court order.”

  Jarrett and Thayne exchanged a glance. “That figures. The asshole was definitely hiding something. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone was worried he’d spill the secrets he was trying to hide.”

  “Well, it would have to be someone worried they’d be exposed in whatever Boggs’s scheme was,” Sales said.

  “We may find out when the FBI gets back to us,” Thayne remarked. He set down the coffee and filter and reached out, running his fingers through Jarrett’s hair. Jarrett looked up at him and gave him a wink.

  “I hope so,” Sales said. “Listen. I’m meetin’ Clint down at the sheriff’s station at ten. His brother-in-law says they’ll give us the lowdown on the murder scene and we can get back to ya.”

  Jarrett glanced at Thayne. “Bud, we’ll meet you down there. Until we hear back from the FBI, we’re gonna be twiddling our thumbs around here and we need to make a report about the car that tried to run us off the road anyway.”

  “Hell, maybe y’all should just go hang out at a bar. You fellas seem to get a lot of information just from sittin’ on a barstool.”

  Jarrett grinned as Thayne chuckled. “Yeah, if it wasn’t the butt crack of dawn, I’d say that was a good plan. We’ll see you down there at ten, okay?” Thayne said.

  “Sure,” Sales said, chuckling. “We’ll see y’all at ten.”

  “Okay, we’ll see if we can get some info from the FBI before we meet you,” Thayne added.

  “Sounds good, fellas. Until then.”

  Jarrett swiped the phone and set it back on the bed table before reaching out and grasping the waistband of Thayne’s boxers, dragging him forward. He bent and kissed Jarrett, pulling away after a minute.

  “I really need a shower. I smell like come,” Thayne said with a chuckle.

  Jarrett smirked back. “I like the smell of my come on ya.”

  “Well, if you’re lucky, after I put the coffee on for you, I’ll let you wash my back.” He winked at him.

  Jarrett laughed and reached for his wrist, pulling him back down for another kiss. His lips were sweet and Thayne truly didn’t mind the way he smelled or tasted at all. When Jarrett finally let him up, he was getting hard. “Go make me some coffee and get your ass into the shower before I roll ya onto this bed and fuck your brains out, darlin’.”

  Thayne grinned and sashayed off to the kitchen to make their coffee, safely out of range.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Thayne and Jarrett met Lafford and Sales down at the sheriff’s office at ten as they’d promised. The sheriff’s office was a bustle of activity and Jarrett figured that it probably wasn’t every day that Pocahontas County had a murder to deal with, especially a murder where the victim turned out to be one of their most influential and wealthy residents. They greeted the other agents and walked outside, well away from the activity to keep out of the way, but also so they could talk without being overheard.

  “Steve Souza, my brother-in-law, is still out at the scene,” Lafford told them. “But from what he says, it’s a bloody one. I already asked if we could come out and take a look at it, but since we’re not directly involved in the investigation, the sheriff don’t want us down there until after they’ve cleared out.”

  “That’s okay. I don’t know if there’s much to gain about tripping over a body anyway. We’d just be in the way,” Thayne replied.

  “I’d like to see the scene,” Jarrett said. “Maybe I can see something you wouldn’t.”

  “Are you a trained investigator aside from the ATF?” Sales raised an eyebrow as he pinned Jarrett with a doubtful look.

  Jarrett couldn’t help but smile. He’d seen more murder scenes than he cared for over his lifetime. Most of them had been his own handiwork but that was neither here nor there. It wasn’
t like he could share those details with anyone anyway.

  “Suffice it to say I’ve got some experience with crime scenes,” Jarrett replied.

  Sales and Lafford exchanged glances and then shrugged. “Okay, I’ll have Steve get you in there once they’re finished up,” Lafford replied.

  “I appreciate that.”

  “So, Bud said someone ran you off the road last night?” Lafford asked.

  “They tried to,” Thayne replied. “We were followed out of the Pick Axe bar or we picked up a tail shortly after leaving. In any case, it was a large American car with blacked-out windows. They hit our rental and tried to push us into oncoming traffic. They tore our bumper right off. If Jarrett wasn’t such a good driver, we would have ended up in a head on collision.”

  “Yeah, I know where the Pick Axe is,” Sales said. “It’s on the outskirts of town. If I remember, it’s a local miner’s dive bar and the road is only two lanes goin’ out there.”

  “Right. There is no shoulder but about a six to eight-foot ditch,” Jarrett said. “Whoever it was very nearly succeeded in pushing us right into oncoming traffic, but after we lost the bumper, whoever was following slowed down enough to avoid it. By that time, we were back in town.”

  “I also told Clint about Boggs sitting on the board of both Saginaw and Red Hills,” Sales said.

  “Yeah, how about that? Someone at Saginaw might have had a motive to kill Boggs after that,” Lafford said.

  “At the time, though, Saginaw thought they were getting rid of a low-producing mine that had safety issues. The fact that anyone would want to buy it at all in 2014 must have surprised them,” Thayne interjected.

  “So what was Boggs’s motivation? It must have been a hell of a lot of work to set up the Red Hills Mining Collective with the goal of buying a failing mine with a lot of safety issues that still haven’t been addressed,” Jarrett said. “I mean, a half million in federal safety money—which was supposed to be used for that and that alone—couldn’t have been that much of a motivation if ya ask me. There must have been something else. Maybe whatever it was, is what got him killed.”

  “Well, he definitely double-crossed someone because whoever it was, sure was pissed,” Sales said.

  As they stood outside, an expensive car pulled up and parked in the guest lot. The driver of the black Cadillac got out and as soon as he did, Jarrett recognized him as one of the goons he’d seen with Boggs before. The man turned and opened the back door. Clifford Geary stepped out, buttoning his suit jacket and straightening his clothes. He looked as sleazy as ever. Jarrett was relieved his father didn’t look that smarmy when he was in full-politician mode. When Geary saw them, he reached up and ran a hand through his slicked back hair, plastering a serious expression onto his face as he walked over followed by his driver.

  “Well, I see the ATF is here. Does that mean poor Jeffrey fell victim of an illegal firearm or was he drunk on illegal liquor?”

  “Good mornin’ to you too, Mr. Geary,” Jarrett drawled.

  “Congressman Geary,” the goon behind the man growled.

  “It’s okay, Fusco. The ATF is obviously here to help. What other reason could they possibly be bothering the sheriff for on a day like today,” Geary said.

  The goon behind him frowned behind the dark aviator sunglasses he wore. “Okay, boss.”

  Jarrett thought it was interesting that the driver worked for Geary. For some reason, he’d assumed Boggs was his employer. It didn’t really matter though. It seemed the congressman had some reason to be there as well.

  “I suppose you have some information to impart to the sheriff or you wouldn’t be here,” Thayne said. Jarrett coughed to cover his chuckle. He and Thayne were obviously on the same wavelength.

  “As a matter of fact, I am here to see that justice is served. Jeffrey Boggs was an important man and a dear friend. Now that he’s been found murdered, I am here to see to it that the persons responsible are caught.”

  “You have knowledge about who those ‘persons’ are, Congressman?” Sales asked.

  “No, but I imagine a man like Jeffrey had many enemies. You know he used to work with a competitor, the Saginaw Mining Collective. He didn’t leave there on good terms even though he was a well-respected officer of their company. Perhaps they decided to settle a score.”

  “Well, if they did, they might have good reason. Boggs formed the Red Hills Mining Collective while he still worked for Saginaw with the sole purpose of buying the mine at a discount,” Jarrett said. “In addition, he inherited a half million dollars of federal safety money to clean up the mine along with the sale. I find it hard to believe that someone from Saginaw would wait two and a half years to seek their revenge on the guy, don’t you, Congressman?”

  Geary’s eyes widened comically. The man couldn’t have been more stunned if Jarrett had hit him in the face with a frying pan. He cleared his throat and reached up to his collar and adjusted his tie as if it was suddenly too tight.

  “Well, as you say,” he finally was able to reply. “Jeffrey did have his demons as we all do, but his were his to deal with alone. I do hope the man rests in peace regardless of his violent end.”

  “Yeah, about that,” Thayne said, “I’m certain the sheriff would like to question you about what you know about the CEO’s death since you were possibly one of the last people to see him alive.”

  The congressman visibly blanched as he fiddled with his tie again. “Of course.” He cleared his throat. “That’s why I’m here. To see to it that justice is done as I said.” Geary’s phone rang and he reached into his pocket. He glanced at the screen and swiped it, listening for a moment. “Good. Do it now.” He hung up and turned back to them. “Well, I need to be going. Nice talking to you.” The smile on his face was forced but he stepped forward, dismissing them and walked past them to the sheriff’s office.

  When he was gone, Lafford and Sales turned toward them. They were smiling.

  “That was awesome,” Lafford said, chuckling. “Did you see how freaked out he got when he found out y’all know about Boggs’s relationship with Saginaw and the safety money?”

  “Yeah, he didn’t like that one little bit,” Thayne said.

  “What was that about him bein’ one of the last people to see him alive?” Lafford asked.

  “Last night, as we were talkin’ to the miners, Geary and Boggs came into the Pick Axe. As soon as they did, the miners scattered. They didn’t want to talk to them and we had no reason to stay so we left too,” Jarrett replied.

  “That’s when someone tried to run you off the road?”

  “Yeah and before ya ask, no it wasn’t them. Boggs’s Mercedes was parked out in the lot when we left and it wasn’t the car who hit us.”

  “Yeah, I was just going to ask,” Lafford said, smirking. “But then again, they don’t have the stones. I got a feeling they leave their dirty work for thugs like that Fusco fella. The guy’s a goombah right out of the Sopranos if I’ve ever seen one.”

  His partner laughed. “Yeah, you watch too much TV, man.”

  Thayne chuckled along with Jarrett before turning back to Lafford. “We should go in and see if a sheriff’s deputy has time to take our police report about the car and I’m sure they’ll want to know we saw Boggs at the Pick Axe last night but will you call us when you can get us into the crime scene?”

  “No problem. It won’t be until much later. It’s probably gonna take most of the day to process the crime scene but I’ll call y’all. We’re not stickin’ around either since there’s nothing to see,” Lafford said.

  Thayne and Jarrett shook their hands and headed in, determined to find someone to take their report. They had to sit and wait nearly two hours but finally, a deputy called them in and they gave their police report and also a statement about seeing Boggs and Congressman Geary out at the
Pick Axe the night before. They also gave the man the name of the miners who’d seen Boggs and the congressman in the bar in case the sheriff wanted to follow up with them.

  Boggs was an unpopular guy by all accounts. Hell, even Doug Haney could have been a suspect. The mine manager had been berated by the CEO right in front of Bert Middleton, the foreman, the morning they’d first gone out to the mine to tour the place where the explosion had happened. Jarrett tended to think his killer was someone tied to the safety money. The motivation for most murders was greed, lust, or fear that they would expose their killers in some way.

  They went back to the library to do some more research after grabbing lunch at a local café and waited for word from either Lafford or Sales to let them know they could tour the crime scene.

  Lafford finally called them around four that afternoon to tell them his brother in law was waiting for them at Boggs’s house. They thanked him and drove out to the scene. Steve Souza was a tall thin man and seemed friendly when he let Thayne and Jarrett into the large house where Jeffrey Boggs had lived with his wife. They were led into the man’s study where his wife said he’d been working until late into the night. It was a large richly-appointed room with a massive desk, built-in bookshelves that were filled with a wide assortment of books, and a large Persian rug in a rich red, gold, and blue. In front of the ornately carved walnut desk was a sizeable stain of drying blood.

  Boggs’s body had been taken away to the coroner’s office, Souza explained. There would be an autopsy but by the time the coroner got there, it was clear that the man had died hours before. The coroner estimated the time of death at well after midnight, probably between one and two in the morning. Boggs had been shot twice in the chest at point-blank range but his wife had reported that she hadn’t heard a thing. The coroner told the sheriff that he believed Boggs was killed with a 9 millimeter. The sheriff concluded it had probably been done with a silenced gun since his wife heard nothing out of the ordinary.